Baking bread is therapeutic. These are the simple pleasures of life to be grateful for. It was a revelation when I found about tangzhong or the water roux technique for making soft and pillowy bread. I first read about this a few years ago in the fresh loaf forum and I was thrilled. A lady by name Yvonne Chen wrote about this technique in her “65°C – Bread Doctor” book referring to tangzhong (water roux) as her secret ingredient. The forum went crazy for tangzhong and so did I.
So what is tangzhong?
A simple water flour roux is made by heating water and flour where the starch in the flour gelatinizes. Adding this flour-water roux to the dough results in an unbelievably moist fluffy bread. Tangzhong adds structure to the inside crumb of the bread.
Lets go make Japanese style Hokkaido Bread AKA Ultimate soft and sweet bread. Its bread time y’all!
First lets make tangzhong. Mix the water and flour and heat it on medium flame until it starts to become a watery custard/pudding like the picture below.
Second lets get the yeast working. Indian yeast is temperamental. so do not skip this step if you are in India. Add quarter cup of warm water plus a pinch of sugar to the yeast and leave it aside for 5 minutes so it becomes foamy. If it doesn’t foam, discard and start again with a fresh batch of yeast.
Mix the dry ingredients and whisk till combined – flour, sugar, milk powder, salt, lemon zest and orange zest. In a separate bowl mix together Milk, eggs, vanilla, all of the tangzhong, butter, and all of the yeast mixture. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and start kneading. Knead for 5 minutes on medium speed on a stand mixer. If kneading by hand, knead for a good 10 minutes. The trick in kneading by hand is to avoid the temptation of adding flour. Too much flour alters the moisture content which results in dry dense dough. Once the dough becomes cohesive, form into a ball and let it rise in a draft free place until doubled. About 60 to 90 minutes.
Once doubled, Shape the dough. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. each piece, roll the dough out into an oval. Fold the oval,crimp and then flatten. Roll the dough up lengthwise, then place into the loaf pan seam side down. Do the same for remaining 3 dough pieces. Cover it and let it double again. About 60 to 90 minutes.
Coat the dough with egg wash and bake in a preheated oven at 200C/350F for 40 minutes. When it’s done, the bread will sound hollow when tapped. Let it cool briefly, then slice and enjoy!
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 teaspoon yeast
- pinch of sugar
- 400grams (around 2.5-3 cups) all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 25g (1/4 cup) milk powder
- 6 tablespoon milk
- 1 egg
- 2 Tablespoon butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
- 1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)
- 1 more egg, beaten with a splash of water, for eggwash
- Mix the water and flour and heat it on medium flame until it starts to become a watery custard or tangzhong.
- Add warm water plus a pinch of sugar to the yeast and leave it aside for 5 minutes so it becomes foamy.
- Mix the dry ingredients and whisk till combined – flour, sugar, milk powder, salt, lemon zest and orange zest.
- In a separate bowl mix together Milk, eggs, vanilla, all of the tangzhong, butter, and all of the yeast mixture.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and start kneading. Knead for 5 minutes on medium speed on a stand mixer. If kneading by hand, knead for a good 10 minutes. Let it rise in a draft free place until doubled. About 60 to 90 minutes.
- Once doubled, Shape the dough. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. each piece, roll the dough out into an oval. Fold the oval, crimp and then flatten. Roll the dough up lengthwise, then place into the loaf pan. Do the same for remaining 3 dough pieces. Cover it and let it double again.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/350F.
- Coat the dough with egg wash and bake in a preheated oven at 200C/350F for 40 minutes. When it’s done, the bread will sound hollow when tapped.